Windows 7: HELP! - With Free Space

Hi all-
I seem to have a problem with Windows 7 not updating the Free Space of my HDD. I've been deleting and/or moving files and my Primary HDD doesn't recognize the fact that there has been a change. For illustrative purposes, I've included 2 screenshots, one of what I see when I open 'Computer:'

...and one of WinDirStat (which is, AFAIK, a true representation of what is actually on my HDD...)


I somehow managed to regain 3GB (up to 6GB), but I'm missing much more. Any help/insight is appreciated. I've run CHKDSK, and I've looked for everything I can think of, all with no joy. (The highlights in WinDirStat are mine.)

Thanks for looking.



-Fuentes

First of all, run Windows 7 SP1 Disk Cleanup Tool and see if the situation is changed or not.

Open an elevated command prompt and enter this command:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

What is then shown for used, allotted, and maximum shadowcopy storage in GB?

After running the 1st Option (which hung and I had to reboot) I did Option 2 and it returned a 'No Service Pack backup files were found' message or something much like that. And I lost some space from 6GB to 5.60GB free.

I received this message after running: No items found that satisfy the query.

Sigh.

-Fuentes

When you run WinDirStat, do you see an area on the right side that shows info about file types and extensions---.mp3, .doc, .wmv, etc??

If so, post that picture.

The pic you did post of WinDirStat shows 65 GB of "unknown" files. That's where the space is going, but what are those "unknown" files and where are they located?

These unknown files types can often be simply temp files or possibly MFT you don't have any restore points so it's not that.
Defraggler is a good app for identifying those files, it's free and trusted.

You need a disk cleanup .... If there are not the backup files, some other junks are there , which is displayed as unknown there. BTW, the cleanup shouldn't consume more place, unless there is a auto backup/restore point creating mechanism with system shutdown.

Try CCleaner . Download and install it, and then run it. From the cleaner tab, run the cleaner .... it will remove all the possible junks from your system. After that, dont touch the registry tab ; and come to the tools tab, and select system restore under it. Remove the restore point (the last one is auto disabled, so you cannot delete it; for the system safety).

Now see if you have gained some free space or not .

I just reinstalled windows...but I'd like to say 'Thank you' to those that tried to help me solve my problem.

-Fuentes